Longtime MLB umpire Angel Hernandez has been absent for nearly the entire season thus far after dealing with a medical matter. He made his return to big-league action this past weekend, and on Wednesday, he was back behind the plate for the first time in 2023.
It didn’t take long for a missed call to make an impact.
Now, until MLB institutes an automated strike zone (robot umps), you’re almost never going to see an umpire go an entire game without missing a call. It’s only happened once since Ump Scorecards started tracking performance. But Hernandez has a knack for impacting games with his missed calls.
Ángel Hernández is back behind the plate in a big league game for the first time in almost ten months.
He misses the call on a 1-1 pitch and the next pitch is a homer. pic.twitter.com/wLKT0VW5y1
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 2, 2023
With MacKenzie Gore on the mound for the Nationals, he should have gotten ahead in the count when his 1-1 pitch in the strike zone was called a ball by Hernandez. There’s a huge difference between a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count from a pitcher’s perspective, and Gore paid that price on the very next pitch. He left a 2-1 fastball up high in the zone, which Tyrone Taylor drove for a 396-foot home run.
MLB SLG on 1-2 pitches is .252.
MLB SLG on 2-1 pitches is .565.— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 2, 2023
Again, Hernandez was never going to be perfect in the game, but a missed call in that spot had to be frustrating for Gore and the Nationals.
Fans certainly didn’t have any problem piling on Hernandez for the missed call.
This was how Twitter reacted
I don't know why @MLBUA capes for this fool so much. He is terrible at his job, and makes all the rest of you look bad. https://t.co/FG21z3hk7k
— JFLAN (@JFLANland) August 2, 2023
not normally one for conspiracy theories but starting to wonder if MLB keeps him around to strengthen the case for robo-umps https://t.co/aCXsxj8L3O
— Christian Vanderbrouk 🇺🇸🇺🇦🌻 (@UrbanAchievr) August 2, 2023
How is this man still employed in the big leagues? https://t.co/inWuKFo2UG
— Brenden (@b_koll11) August 2, 2023
We thought we were safe.
We were wrong. https://t.co/XNGeyvhlmX
— Andrew Francis👑 (@ImAndrewFrancis) August 2, 2023
oh THATS why he ain’t calling strikes strikes. my goodness dawg https://t.co/iVyiVPfNbC
— g (@_____garrett) August 2, 2023
The recreation league I used to umpire for had more accountability than Major League Baseball… make it make sense lol
— DJ Martinez (@DJMartinez06) August 2, 2023
Ángel Hernández had this as a ball. 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/H41b6iqLXi
— EaglesFan9019 (@eaglesfan9019) August 2, 2023
Ángel Hernández remains the WORST pic.twitter.com/hF2IDkE0RR
— Matthew Davis (@mattywood) August 2, 2023
Anyone watching the nationals game??? Angel Hernandez straight messing with Mackenzie Gore…he won’t call a strike low in the zone…literally missed like 5 auto strikes at least lol.
— CreamFriche (@Cream_Friche) August 2, 2023
He’s back like he never left.
